Tuesday, February 14, 2012

This week's post is about a very special project. As it involves space and change we thought it would be worthwhile to share on our blog.

In December, the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art installed a space where artist Yayoi Kusama constructed a large studio apartment like and painted every single thing - walls and furniture - in brilliant white. The installation, named the Obliteration Room, is part of the artist's "Look Now, See Forever" exhibition that runs through March 2012.

Over a period of two weeks, the youngest visitors were given thousands of colored dot stickers and were invited to spontaneously transform the white space into an explosion of colors. The white room changes drastically with the passage of time as the dots accumulate as a result of thousands of collaborators.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Arnold Warwick’s apartment is 1,200-square-foot, and at $331.76 a month, it might be one of the very best deals in New York City. “I don’t plan on dying, because I don’t want to give up a rent-controlled apartment,” said Mr. Warwick, who is 80 and has lived in one of the apartments above the Cherry Lane Theater for half a century.

Mr. Warwick’s apartment, which has four small bedrooms built up around an open living room, isn’t just cheap. It is also a fabulous apartment.

A two-bedroom apartment in the area rents for an average of $4,745 per month, and just down the block, at 17 Commerce Street, a 2,200-square-foot federal-style town house is currently for sale for $4.975 million.

The apartments above the Cherry Lane Theater are owned by Angelina Fiordellisi, the executive director of the theater. She bought them in 1996, with the help of her husband, Matt Williams, a successful television writer and producer whose credits include “The Cosby Show,” “Roseanne” and “Home Improvement.”

Ms. Fiordellisi bought the eight apartments on Commerce Street because they came with the theater, not because she wanted to be a landlord.“I wasn’t interested in making any money off the apartments,” she said. “I was just hoping they would pay for themselves. "The apartments bring in about $65,000 in rent a year, she said, and between property taxes and the cost of heat, water, maintenance and management, they just barely break even.

Another of those apartments is rented by Ms. Campbell and her husband, Adam Rosen. They do not have a rent-regulated unit, but they pay only $2,500 for a glorious three-bedroom. The reason for their bargain is not blackmail but sentiment. Mr. Rosen’s grandmother Kim Hunter, a founding member of the Actors Studio and an Oscar winner, lived in that apartment for about 50 years. When she died of a heart attack in 2002 — in the apartment — her children asked Ms. Fiordellisi if they could keep the place in the family. She said yes, and they agreed on a rent that the couple, with their young son, could afford.“Four generations in the same apartment!” Ms. Fiordellisi wrote in an e-mail. “I love it!”

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Last week's New York Times had a very interesting article under the Home section.

In recent years, cash-strapped Americans are buying land and then bringing in inexpensive or even free houses that would have otherwise been torn down. Many of these houses come from used-house lots, where one can choose from a wide range of styles.

Warren Davie, the owner of Davie Shoring, a structural mover with a used-house lot outside of New Orleans, said his business increased 50 percent since 2008. Mr. Davie said most buyers are "hard-working people who don't want to go into debt to own a home and are willing to put a little sweat equity into the project".

Depending on a home's size, its condition and how far it has to be moved, the cost can range from $15,000 to $60,000. That's about 40 to 60 percent of what it would cost to build the same structure from scratch.

Moving a house is, in theory, relatively simple. If it is on a pier-and-beam foundation, structural movers slide steel beams under the ground floor to lift it; if the house is on a concrete slab, the mover uses jackhammer to create tunnels where support beams can be inserted. Then the house is raised on jacks, dollies are maneuvered beneath it, and the beams supporting the house are lowered onto the dollies, which have an integrated hydraulic suspension system that adjusts to the road, so that no part of the house is unduly stressed on the way.

Once the building arrives at its new location, it is lowered into place, using jacks, and allowed to settle into its new neighborhood. All of which is exciting to watch, for homeowner and mover alike!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

In the article “Miami Condos on Upswing,” The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the Miami condo glut is coming to an end. The article points to a 539-unit bulk deal at Midtown Miami which recently sold for $110M, or $183 per square foot. This has marked an important milestone in the city's housing recovery.

The article also states thatIcon Brickell, with 1,796 total units, now has fewer than 20 units remaining as of October and is expected to sell out in November.

Paramount Bay

The Downtown condominium project Paramount Bay is also mentioned. The condo launched sales around mid-October. Around 70 units are either closed or under contract and only 4 of the 11 penthouses remain. Paramount Bay is designed to be a mix of refined city apartment and casual beach house décor, with Lenny Kravitz’s New York-based firm, Kravitz Design Inc., to create the artistic vision for the property.Marquis Residence, a 292-unit luxury condo development located in Downtown Miami which was not mentioned in The Wall Street Journal article, is now over 75% sold.

Needless to say, it very well seems that 2011 will represent the year that the Miami condo glut came to an end. The next couple of years will be filled with new projects, such as the Resorts World Miami, the Citi Centre, and many more. Today is a pivotal moment in Miami's history, a time where the city's image and realty are being fully reshaped.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

We just came back from a quick weekend in NYC, so, of course, this week's post will talk about the greatest city in the world and one of its latest stunning projects.

The High Line is a public park built on a 1.45-mile-long (2.3 km) elevated rail structure running from Gansevoort Street to West 34th Street on Manhattan’s West Side. Previously, the High Line was a freight rail line, in operation from 1934 to 1980. It carried meat to the meatpacking district, agricultural goods to the factories and warehouses of the industrial West Side, and mail to the Post Office.

The area has been taken over by the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation where a non-profit organization ‘Friends of the High Line’ builds and maintains this incredible public space.

On June 8 2011, Section 2 of the High Line opened to rave reviews and acclaim. As covered in the New York Times, Mayor Michael Bloombergclaimed that shortly before the opening of Section 2 the High Line had already generated $2 billion in private investment in and around the Meatpacking District of New York–nearly eight times the High Line’s original revenue-generation estimates.The mayor pointed to the deluxe apartment buildings whose glass walls press up against the High Line and the hundreds of art galleries, restaurants and boutiques it overlooks. All of that commerce makes up for the $115 million the city has spent on the park and the deals it has made to encourage developers to build along the High Line without blocking out the sun, Mr. Bloomberg said. On top of the 8,000 construction jobs those projects required, the redevelopment has added about 12,000 jobs in the area, the mayor said.

The High Line has become one of the most popular destinations of the city. Tourists and New Yorkers can take in city views, while strolling amid gardens dotted with prairie grasses, wildflowers, and the remains of the rusted tracks—a perfect union of old and new, urban decay and natural beauty.

Friday, October 21, 2011

While reading this month's architecture and design magazine Dwell, we came across a unique and very cool home. It is a remodeled houseboat on Seattle's Portage Bay. We have rarely seen such an out of the ordinary home. This once-plain floating home received a ten years renovation by Ninebark Design Build, interior designer Kim Mankoski, and local builder Dyna Contracting. Among the challenges they faced were comprehensive issues like how to build a home with so much detail on a platform that was constantly moving and shifting, and more particular issues like how to build steel windows that would rust yet remain waterproof.

The end product is a 1,000-square-foot place complemented by a 400-square-foot rooftop deck that provides ample views of the waterfront and snowcapped peaks of the Cascade Mountains. Ninebark and Dyna tried to salvage as many components as they could from the original structure. On the exterior, they used Cor-ten steel and cedar, both of which will age well in the rainy northwestern climate. The interior has Marmoleum tile floor which feels warm and smooth underfoot in the living/dining/kitchen area of the houseboat. Because its moorage is at the end of the dock, the east-facing wall is completely open to the water, and the house is filled with light even on gray days.

This is a fantastic retreat, surrounded constantly by natural light and the sound of water.

For those of you interested in Seattle houseboats, there is a very romantic one located on the famous "Sleepless in Seattle" dock. It is on the market for 900,000$.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

We are huge fans of Charles and Ray Eames, known for their innovative furniture, as well as their contributions to architecture, film and graphic design. We actually have several of their pieces in our own home. That is why we would love to make a little trip to LA right now and visit the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and its show called “California Design, 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way,” (runs through March 25). In fact, the Eames House's living room — all 1,869 items — have been meticulously cataloged and transferred to a replica of the room installed at the museum for the show. To pack up the living room took a week with the aid of two teams, then all the items went into a freezer for five days to kill any possible insect infestations.

Anyways, for all the Eames lovers out there, the Eames House, Case Study House #8, was one of roughly two dozen homes built as part of The Case Study House Program. Begun in the mid-1940s and continuing through the early 1960s, the program was spearheaded by John Entenza, the publisher of Arts and Architecture magazine. The magazine announced that it would be the client for a series of homes designed to express man's life in the modern world. These homes were to be built and furnished using materials and techniques derived from the experiences of the Second World War. Each home would be for a real or hypothetical client taking into consideration their particular housing needs. Charles and Ray proposed that the home they designed would be for a married couple working in design and graphic arts, whose children were no longer living at home. Charles and Ray moved into the House on Christmas Eve, 1949, and lived there for the rest of their lives until their death, his in 1978 and hers 10 years to the day later. They furnished it in a way that mirrored their energetic personalities and curiosity about the world. Strikingly, the 17-foot-high living room was not at all an example of modern design, but instead a comfortable lived-in place. The house is now maintained by the Eames Foundation, set up by Lucia Eames, Mr. Eames’s daughter from his first marriage, and her children. While the family still uses it occasionally, it is a kind of time capsule that shows how the couple lived.

Go to http://eamesfoundation.org/ for more information about the house. You can actually hold a wedding or party in the House's meadow, or even spend a night in the Studio where daughter Lucia stayed when she came on visits. That must be a very special experience!